The osprey or fish hawk is a raptor commonly seen along coastlines or inland waterways, where it is sometimes mistaken for the larger bald eagle. Audubon compared the osprey to other hawks, writing: "I know of none more social or gregarious... the bird's flight is as graceful and majestic as the eagle's."

The osprey's bulky stick nest is usually built in dead trees or utility poles, a site to which it will return year after year to nest, laying several blotched eggs. The only hawk that atually dives into water, the osprey hovers above the surface then plunges feet first in its pursuit of fish, the sole constituent of its diet. It may dramatically disappear beneath the surface for a moment and then emerge with a fish seized in its talons before flying off to feed.

- Robert Bateman